Séayoncé’s Perky Nativititties review – smut comes down Santa’s chimney

Yard theatre, London The drag queen’s ho-hum ‘anti-Christmas’ show is delivered with delinquent charm and a lot of third-hand double entendresThe festive season can be isolating – so here comes drag queen Séayoncé with an “anti-Christmas” show designed…

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The Christmas Thing review – Krampus comes to town as cult comedy is retuned for yuletide

Seven Dials Playhouse, LondonTom Clarkson and Owen Visser’s anarchic evening has some bright ideas but may be more fun for those taking part than onlookers‘A festive TV show live onstage,” promise multimedia double act Mr Thing, and they’re qualified t…

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Dick Whittington and His Cat review – the rats have no chance in merry panto

Hackney Empire, London It won’t win prizes for originality, but the joyful ensemble spirit of Clive Rowe’s show will keep the kids happyOne day, a panto may come along in which the story is given as much (OK, even half as much) attention as the dame’s …

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‘We’re not as good as them!’: why are comics Adam Riches and John Kearns becoming crooners Ball & Boe?

Two Edinburgh fringe favourites have teamed up to play mainstream entertainment titans Michael Ball and Alfie Boe in this festive season’s most unlikely stage showAlone, they are acclaimed and award-hogging entertainment colossi. Together, they are the…

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‘Am I allowed to be funny?’ Ashley Storrie on acting, autism – and grieving her mum, Janey Godley

The Scottish comedian received two Baftas last month, just after the death of her mother. She discusses secrets, sadness, success and how comedy sustains herAshley Storrie is describing her “massively surreal” experience at last month’s Bafta Scotland …

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Milton Jones: ‘I was heckled by Paul Weller and Robbie Williams at the same gig!’

The standup on the power of strange shirts, the importance of never Googling yourself and how he came to specialise in one-linersHow did you get into comedy?I tried to be an actor, but nobody else wanted me to be one. Then I tried standup so “theatre p…

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Suzi Ruffell: ‘If a story is good enough for the pub, I’ll give it a go on stage’

The standup on her first gig, why she pretended to be a stage manager for The Lion King and the best service station in the countryHow did you get into comedy?Initially I wanted to be a comedy actress, so at 18 I went off to drama school and loved it, …

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Alternative comedian Joe Kent-Walters: ‘I used to do a strip tease with carrier bags’

The Yorkshire-born standups’s surreal take on a working men’s club has bagged him comedy awards and a BBC radio pilot. But even as he dreams of a Mrs Merton-style talkshow, he’s still insistent on keeping things surrealThe last time I saw Frankie Monro…

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Alternative comedian Joe Kent-Walters: ‘I used to do a strip tease with carrier bags’

The Yorkshire-born standups’s surreal take on a working men’s club has bagged him comedy awards and a BBC radio pilot. But even as he dreams of a Mrs Merton-style talkshow, he’s still insistent on keeping things surrealThe last time I saw Frankie Monro…

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‘People feel terrible. They want to laugh’: can comedy make light of Trump 2.0?

A second Donald Trump presidency may be darker than the first, but his victory has unleashed the creative energies of satirists and standups “When Trump first won, there was almost a novelty to having a character such as him in a position of such vast …

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